Listening to Mitchell
There is no other place in Milwaukee like Mitchell Street. In the most densely populated area of the city, the street has remained one of Milwaukee’s most animated and diverse corridors. From its commercial heyday in the 1950s to its eclectic present, this mainstreet has been home to countless stories of grand commercial success and decline as successive waves of immigrants made their way on the street.
Created by artists Sonja Thomsen and Adam Carr, Listening to Mitchell is a public art project that presents a web of collective experience through images and sound. Photographs of souvenirs uncovered during the artists' research process become artifacts of place, reflect experience of time, and represent the street’s tangled cultural identity. In addition, the audience can listen in on discussions constructed from the street’s many voices, touching on topics like romance, regret, transition, misbehaving, and fatherhood. Throughout 2014's summer months, the temporary public artwork will grow with more images and conversations generated by the street. The labyrinth of experiences suggested by Listening to Mitchell’s many parts is the artwork itself.